Lava Hot Springs

This weekend we went on our annual Lava Hot Springs trip! We had 15 people total (most from Bountiful) and it was a blast! This is the bunch after finishing a few tube runs down the river!
We got in Friday night and set up Chris' monster tent. It can fit about 10 people. The boys (except for Benj . . . the only married one) slept outside the tent. When it got cool enough in the evening, we went to the hot springs. I could only stick my ankles in for a bit because it was superrrr warm. You could seriously cook in it! I eventually got in to my shoulders and it felt so good on my aching muscles!
The first thing we do on Saturday is go to breakfast at the Chuckwagon. Afterwards was a friendly game of volleyball. Lava has a bunch of parks and most of them were pretty crowded. Then we got our tubes and went down the river. We tried to stay in a long chain but after a couple people falling out, we decided that the smaller links were better. I gave Benj a hard time because he kept on letting go of my tube. After the river run, we went to Fat Jack's: THE place (and practically only place) to eat in town. If you've ever been to Lava, there is one main road with I think one stop sign. It's about as po-dunk as they come!
The other famous spot to hang out is the Olympic-size pool with the 3-platform diving boards. Some of us were brave and faced the top one! I'm not one for heights so I opted to watch from the bottom!
Another fun little trip for the Bradshaws!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

My dad celebrates #61 this year and he's amazing! He had such a great time on the Colorado and I loved capturing the little moments during our trip. He was definately in his element and told us all kinds of stuff about the canyon (he's a pro in geology). On the way down we listened to a lot of John Williams, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zepplin, and Simon and Garfunkel. Thanks dad for making this trip so memorable. I love you and Happy Birthday!

This was a common site with dad's pants half wet. He was always in the water fishing, cooling off, or discovering something!

He caught bigger fish than this but this was the only picture I got. I woke up early (probably 5:30ish) and discovered him trying to catch some trout a few yards away from where I was sleeping. Once again, the half-wet pants! Dad, you're the best!

The Bradshaw's GRAND Adventure

We're back from the Grand Canyon and it was the trip of our lives! Benj and I got to see some of the most amazing and beautiful sites in the world! We also got to experience some of the greatest rapids! Here's a look at our GRAND adventure!

Day 1 - June 26th

There were 16 of us total: my family and my dad's 2 sisters' families. To make it easy, my family are the Crofts, the next is the Waters, and the other is the Cross family. My uncle, Jerry Cross, is a river guide, so they went up early to start setting up. The Crofts and the Waters started our journey early in the morning, and reached our destination about 2 or 3 pm. We stayed at a little place called the Marble Canyon Lodge. Everyone who works there was very friendly and by gosh it was toasty! We could walk about 5 minutes and reach the Navajo Bridge, which is amazing to walk across and see the river so far below.

Day 2 - June 27th

The first day on the river! The starting point for most rafting trips begins at a place called Lee's Ferry. Dozens of commercial and private parties leave every day. We tried to get out early because of the heat but because of a lecture by a friendly ranger (he told us about every animal in the park) and the amount of stuff we had to pack on our raft, it took us a couple hours to take off. It's funny, the first little ripple of water and we'd get all excited. We hadn't seen anything yet! It was cool to pass under the Navajo bridge and to get an idea of how deep we were in the canyon. Most places in the Grand Canyon are said to be a mile deep. It was incredible to be surrounded by huge faces of rock. It was a lot cooler in the canyon because of the shadows of the rock and being on the river. We faced a few larger rapids throughout the day (6-7 on a scale of 10) and Benj caught his first few fish. We camped at a place with some nice sand for sleeping on and slept to the sound of the chirping secadas (like crickets)and the rushing river. We slept under the stars and didn't need any blankets because it was so warm.

Day 3 - June 28th

Our first site to see today is called Vasey's Paradise (see the slideshow). It is a trio of waterfalls coming right out of the side of the canyon. We traveled down to Redwall Cavern, which is a huge cave-like place where the floor is all sand. It is said to fit 50,000 people in it. There we played a friendly game of frisbee and football and my mom caught her first little fish. We passed under a couple other bridges made for mules and other tours, and then found a spot for lunch. My aunt Laurie was the most prepared person! She had this perfect waterproof box full of sandwich fixings, cookies, chips, etc and we just set up a little table and fixed our lunch right by the water. Pop and juice were kept cold by putting them in a burlap sack and hanging it over the side of the raft in the water. Oh, and for water we drank the river water! I wasn't too sure at first but it was yummy! We decided we had enough time to go to the Little Colorado river. It is the point where the Little Colorado river meets the main Colorado. It determines if the water will be muddy or not. Our luck was with us and the water was crystal blue. It was absolutely gorgeous! We hiked up a ways and floated down the river (which was about 70 degrees) with our lifejackets wrapped around our bums to protect them from rocks. A memorable moment occurred when my mom started going down when she didn't want to and both my brothers grabbed her ankles before heading down head first! After swimming for an hour we found a camp (see top picture) and enjoyed a BBQ chicken dinner.

Day 4 - June 29th

We woke up in the early morning and were covered with sand. Our faces and hair were caked with it and it was even in our ears. I washed my hair in the river and I swear I can still feel the sand everywhere! Today was RAPID DAY! We went through 10 rapids that were all over a 6 on the scale of 10. Our favorite was Hermit Rapid, rated 9, which went through 5 perfect "rollercoaster" waves with the biggest wave at the end that left everyone soaked. Other favorites included Hance, Sockdolager, Grapevine, Granite, and Crystal Rapid (10). My least favorite was ironically named Tuna Creek Rapid (for those who know me I HATE tuna). I was sitting on the side tube with both legs in the raft and a wave toppled me forward on my brother! It gave me a darn bruise on my knee too! Another highlight was a beautiful place called Elves Chasm. It was quite a hike up, but when you reach it it's all worth it. It's a little nook with a waterfall that you can jump off of. Very refreshing! Our camp this night was Benj and my favorite because we got a little spot all to ourselves! It gets annoying trying to find a place to change other than your sleeping bag. Oh, and don't even get me started about trying to use the bathroom! Boys have it so easy!

Day 5 - June 30th

We visited a couple of my favorite spots. Deer Creek Falls was a HUGE waterfall where you can see and feel the mist pretty much from the river! Benj came the closest to getting underneath or behind it was it was so strong that nobody could make it. Havasu Creek was later in the afternoon and it was a paradise. Crystal blue water with multiple waterfalls. It is surrounded by a beautiful red wall of rock that looks polished because of the sand and water. It was probably my favorite place to swim and visit. My dad took all the pictures with his camera of us swimming so I'll get those later. We came back to our raft to find a raven and gotten into one of our snack bags and stole all of our swedish fish! We enjoyed several fun rapids and found a fun camp spot where we enjoyed spaghetti and breadsticks (I ate better on this trip than I did at home)! Andy actually saw a scorpion here but luckily I didn't see it!

Day 6 - July 1st

Lava Rapid Day! This is the king of all rapids right here. It has a wall of water 37 feet high! Our raft of 16 people could easily get flipped over in that! Luckily my uncle is an experienced driver and got us through safely. We definately got soaked and it was the highlight of the day. Lava rock is embedded all over the mountain and there is a huge lava stone called Vulcan's Anvil right in the middle of the river about a mile before the rapid. It seems to say "danger ahead". We made camp at a place called Pumpkin Springs and made sandcastles and floated the river until sundown. My dad grilled us each a 9-10 oz steak for dinner. The last night on the river!

DAY 7 - July 2nd

We savored the last few rapids and sites of the Grand Canyon before reaching our exit point called Diamond Peak. It took us a couple hours to deflate the raft and get everything loaded in our cars. It was a long bumpy ride to the nearest town, called Peach Springs. How grateful we were for running water and a toilet. Seeing ourselves in the mirror was also a shock. I didn't care . . . all I wanted was a milkshake. When I got it at our table, everyone's eyes were on my milkshake. I felt kinda bad eating it in front of them, but hey, they could have ordered their own! The biggest surprise happened after lunch when my uncle Jerry and aunt Laurie announced that our trip was FREE! They gave us this trip as a gift! We were all in shock when they told us. They are the BEST!! We parted ways soon after and the Croft clan stopped in Las Vegas to enjoy a long shower and a good night's sleep.

It was a fabulous experience and I recommend everyone go!!!

Happy Birthday Mom and Andy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I wanted to wish my brother Andy a Happy 19th Birthday and my mom a Happy 30th Birthday! ;) Both of them celebrated on the 19th.

Andy, you are turning into quite the young man and I am so proud of you and the choices you are making. You deserve the best life has to offer and I hope I can be just a great a sister as you've been a brother. I love you!

Mom, you are amazing. I hope you know how much the little notes and phone calls mean to me. Just when I start worrying about something, you call and lift my spirits. I feel closer to you as a daughter than I ever have before and I love you so much!

Tagged - All About Benj

I like this Tag because it's about my favorite person! Hopefully I got most of the questions correct. Thanks for the tag Natalie!

A-ATV of Choice?- This is kind of an odd question. I've never seen him ride one!
B-Born?- April 18th, 1984
C-Cookies or candy?- Benj has a sweet tooth just like me! I think he's more of a candy person. His weakness is Reese's Pieces. He's always requesting those!
D-Date of choice?- He likes going to sporting events or seeing a movie. We hope we can go see a few games this summer!
E- Essential item(s)?- Cell phone and IPod
F- Favorite food?- Homemade would probably be porkchops. Out - chicken alfredo or Benihana's
G- Gas or diesel?- gas
H-Hobbies?- He loves playing all kinds of sports. He hit a triple and a homerun at our softball game tonight! Go Benji!
I-Favorite ice cream?- Mint Chocolate Chip
J-Current Job?- Works for USANA Health Sciences as a Quality Assurance Specialist
K- Kids?- We hope to eventually have 4 (not all at once . . . haha)
L-Last vacation?-We haven't been on a vacation in so long. Probably St. George! We're going to the Grand Canyon next week. Whoohoo!
M-Morning person or night owl?- Definately Night owl! He'll usually stay up to finish homework.
N-Number of siblings?- 2 An older sister and older brother. I married the baby (and Momma's boy) of the family!
O-OCD or Sloppy? -Closer to OCD, which is good because I'm the same way. Benj is very particular about certain things . . . like leaving his keys in the same spot.
P-Pet peeves?- Probably me nagging him to do something. He doesn't like to be told what to do and he's very stubborn.
Q-Quiet or Loud?- Depends. He can be a little shy but warms up to people quickly. He's loud when he is with his friends or watching a funny show. Anyone who knows Benj knows his laugh. I love it!
R-Restaurants?- Benihana's, Rumbi, Cafe Rio, Olive Garden
S-Sports? Basketball, Baseball, Golfing, and he loves watching ANY sport on TV! (Natalie, I didn't change a think on this one!)
T- Tight wad or Spender?- Tight wad. Well, he likes to purchase more expensive items than I do so he's really good at saving. I tend to buy little items a few times a month. :)
U- Unknown fact?- He's very ticklish, especially on his hamstring!
V- Veggies?- He's a good veggie eater and he'll try anything. I think his favorites are carrots, potatoes, salad, and zucchini.
X- Extra Curricular activities?- Whenever he gets time (which isn't very often) he enjoys playing or watching sports, singing, reading, and playing with his wifey.
Y- Why I love him- I can't list everything. I love his testimony of the gospel, the love he has for his family, his courage, compassion, honesty, sense of humor, tenderness, intelligence, humility, and understanding. He is everything I could ask for plus some. I love you sweetheart.
Z-Zodiac sign- I think he's an Aries.

My Turn to tag: ANNIE, CYNTHIA, and SHEENA!

Happy Father's Day!

I wanted to wish the very special men in our lives a very Happy Father's Day.
To my daddy, I love you and so thankful you're my father. You've done so much for me and I don't think I could ever repay you. Can't wait to see you next week!
To Benj's dad, whom I hopefully get to meet someday, thank you for raising such a wonderful son.
To Benj, a future father. I couldn't ask for a better husband. You are the greatest blessing in my life.

Happy Father's Day!

Grand Canyon